Hi, I'm Jen and today we're going to learn about
authoritarianism. *Marching sounds*
Imagine a world where one powerful leader or a group of leaders makes the vast majority of
decisions in a nation-state. Personal freedom such as the right to privacy, to assemble in groups, to
vote, and to speak one mine are significantly curbed if not completely monitored and censored
for the sake of national security, the preservation of the state, or simply to
help those in power keep their power. Your phone records could be seized for little to
no reason other than a vague suspicion of being a terrorist! Your private life
could come under severe scrutiny for speaking out against policies or laws which you find to be
unjust or morally reprehensible! And you could be jailed, imprisoned, or even
killed for assembling with like-minded citizens in protest against corruption and injustice!
Now imagine that in this nation your leaders are revered and elevated to almost god-like status in
the instruments of political power which were once maybe slow to enact change are now wielded with a
fierce swiftness that allows for whole swaths of a nation's laws and procedures to change in an
instant with a signing of one paper, by one person, or one small group of people.
What are the potential downfalls of such a system?
How do such seemingly oppressive systems come to be? And are there any benefits?
The form of government in which all of this can become a reality is called: Authoritarianism.
Authoritarianism is a blanket term for systems characterized by highly centralized
power structures and the use of political, economic, and social institutions that reject
political and social plurality, individual rights, and democratic values in order
to establish and or preserve political, social, and national structures and beliefs.
In the 20th century it was thought that capitalism,
which demands economic freedom, could only exist within a democratic state.
Today, China is reshaping our understanding of the way capital and government can operate together.
China has an authoritarian system in which one party politically controls the direction
of society yet free market principles are leading to massive economic growth.
We call this authoritarian capitalism and it's challenging the western system's dominance over
economic possibility. In an authoritarian society, citizens experience significant reductions of
their civil liberties. This includes reductions in their privacy, their speech, their legal rights,
assembly, and suffrage. Meanwhile, the rule of law as well as the separation and balance of powers
among different branches of government deteriorate or they simply don't exist at all. Doing away with
slow moving checks and balance systems in order to put power in the hands of a few people, or in some
cases throughout history, a single person. People often wonder how a population could allow for
such a potentially oppressive government to rule over them without rebelling immediately! Well, the
reality is that most authoritarian regimes tend to emerge slowly out of necessity due to the need for
immediate action and emergency action in response to crisis situations that often
occur in countries that otherwise have normally functioning or semi-functioning governments
where the powers are traditionally separated amongst different branches and offices. However,
when catastrophe occurs most people become filled with fear and look to their government for help
which motivates them to give up more and more of their civil liberties so that the government can
step into non-traditional roles to help solve their emergency. This centralization of power
within the government happens almost always in the name of safety and security for its citizens.
Think about major disasters and polarizing issues. Pandemics, economic shifts and crashes
such as the great depression, war, fiery social movements, institutional and or moral corruption,
and more. All of these disruptors create the kind of chaotic and emotionally charged environments
in which authoritarian regimes can swoop in and plant their roots,
but this protection often comes with a steep cost. The more and more citizens sacrifice their civil
liberties the more power is centralized into the hands of the government. This willingness
to sacrifice freedom for the sake of safety can create a cycle in which governments can become
massively powerful and oppressive while average citizens are left powerless to enact change.
This is the worst case scenario and can be seen in countries like North Korea today where
all aspects of the lives of citizens are controlled and monitored. Laws are harsh
and unforgiving. Citizens have little to no say over what occurs within their government.
Of course disasters happen everywhere and some governments may not take advantage of these crisis
situations to consolidate power. Most people would like to believe their government does what it's
supposed to do: serve its citizens well and then relinquish power after the disaster has subsided,
but in the case of authoritarian regimes, the government will continue to hold on
to their emergency powers and they may even manufacture further disasters to manipulate
the public into giving up even more and more of their freedoms. Propaganda is the presentation
of information which can be one-sided information in order to promote a social or political cause.
Propaganda encourages an audience to form their ideas around a particular viewpoint or perception.
Now sometimes it's not a rational response, but an emotional response which is sought by those
who push propaganda in order to motivate people to go out and do something that may actually be
against their best interests. But propaganda is a beloved, much-used tool of authoritarian regimes.
Typically and often in times of war, powerful leaders and governments will
push propaganda onto their citizens in order to form an enemy image which
attempts to rally as many people as possible within their country against one common foe.
Then this majority can be called upon to follow the leader's course of action with
unwavering loyalty. In particularly notable cases, the leader may call upon the image of
the other to reinstill fear of this outside group who are accused of opposing a regime's narrative
or story that a country's national sovereignty or security is being challenged. These accusations
can drive a fearful populace into giving up even more of their rights as well as promote the
public dehumanizing and demonizing of one or more minority groups. Many in these selected groups are
eventually forced to emigrate to other countries or risk facing persecution in their home nation.
And it's important to remember that any group can become the enemy image. Strong authoritarian
leaders often employ the use of stereotypes, generalizations, racism, nativism, homophobia,
conspiracy theories, and other unprovable, intolerant, and plainly bigoted ideologies
in order to add polarizing elements to their narratives which further solidifies the unwavering
loyalty of their proponents. All it takes is one bold, charismatic, and convincing leader
to point out that a minority group is the cause of the nation's problems. Uh, that's a method
known as scapegoating and citizens who've bought into that narrative follow him or her blindly out
of fear or a sense of patriotic duty, religious obligation, or sometimes even out of pure hatred.
Meanwhile, those who disagree are left unable to voice their opinions and
assemble due to public shaming and or the nation's disintegrating civil liberties.
This unfortunate cycle can continue until there's a fair and transparent
process to replace the regime, or a war, a coup d'état, and or a rebellion.
Another common tool authoritarian leaders use to consolidate power is the creation and worship of
the model citizen or aggregate citizen. Diversity is reduced to this national citizen as an ideal as
their collective identity. Typically the aggregate citizen is represented by
ethnic and or racial markers and often embodies aspects of the authoritarian leader's persona.
Oftentimes this loss of individual identity is confused with the belief of the welfare
of the group, community, or nation as the goal of society. But a society with no individuals could
never truly be a community. A healthy society is one in which individual freedoms create and
are fulfilled by collective goals and values of the community not separated and destroyed.